Fall 2005 Contents

Fall 2005 In Focus Home

Dillard University students were welcomed to Dickinson at a reception in Memorial Hall.

Shelter from the Storm

Abeo Jackson came to Dickinson in September, eager to spend a semester in Carlisle as part of Crossing Borders, which brings together students from Dickinson and two New Orleans universities—Xavier and Dillard.

As she was settling into her new residence hall, Jackson never expected that her home institution would be devastated by one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history.

“At Dillard, I lived in a modular unit and I know it was destroyed,” says Jackson, a native of Trinidad. “I lost my computer, but those are just things—it is people that matter most.”

Hurricane Katrina displaced thousands of students from colleges and universities in the region. And this semester, more than a dozen of those students have found homes on Dickinson’s campus.

As part of the college’s hurricane-relief efforts, Dickinson extended invitations to displaced undergraduates from Dillard and Xavier who wished to continue their studies this fall, offering them “visiting-student” status for at least a semester—free of tuition.

“This was an opportunity for us to do something real,” says Associate Provost Joyce Bylander, who coordinated the efforts to bring the students to campus. “It shows that ‘citizen leadership’ and ‘engaging the world’ are not just buzzwords—we really make these things happen.”

College administrators were unable to communicate with Xavier. But, with the help of Jackson and Jason Roper-Brooks—another Dillard student on campus for Crossing Borders—Bylander and President William G. Durden ’71 quickly established contact with officials and students at Dillard University.

“We started hearing from more and more students who wanted to accept our invitation,” explains Bylander. “Now, we have 14 Dillard students on campus [from the United States, Trinidad and Jamaica].”

Many of these students lost almost everything they owned—and arrived at Dickinson with little more than a single suitcase.

“No one had any idea that [New Orleans] was going to be devastated so badly,” says visiting-junior Sarah Jean Richardson. “But I’m happy that we’re safe.”

The college has not limited its outreach to partner institutions in the Crossing Borders program—Dickinson also has become home to two displaced students from Tulane University in New Orleans.

“What’s gratifying is that we’ve been able to create a safe haven for these students,” says Bylander. “Otherwise, they may have been stranded. And we’re mindful that this is such a big change for these students. So in true Dickinson style, we’re making this go as smoothly as possible.”

The college made accommodations for the visiting students to take courses they need for their academic majors. And faculty members allowed the students to enter their classes late and offered assistance to help them get caught up.

Current students also are lending a hand. (See photos, page 4.) With the help of Director of Religious Life and Community Service John Miyahara, Lindsay Robinson ’08 organized all of the service groups on campus to welcome the displaced students, serve as hosts and provide practical assistance for basic needs, such as clothing and school supplies.

“It’s important that we pull together, as a coalition of combined efforts,” says Robinson, a community-service council chair.

“I’ve just been so impressed with all of the student organizations that agreed to help,” says Miyahara. “I’m extremely proud of Dickinson, not just as an institution, but of the students who stepped up to welcome strangers at the drop of a hat. This shows that our sense of what it means to be a Dickinson leader really shines true. We’ve stepped up and we walk our talk. We’re helping the Dillard students, and these students will help us grow and stretch as an institution. It’s a reciprocal relationship.”